Love Conquers Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease is a hideous illness.  Robin's grandmother spoke and wrote three languages. Sometimes, she spoke three languages in one rapid sentence accented with the wave of the hand.  She was a talented baker sharing that passion with a willing granddaughter.
You never know when a loved one inflicted with Alzheimer's disease will speak a last coherent sentence.   This horrific disease does not come with a warning light that this the day a loved one will smile for the last time.   Alzheimer’s is a cruel disease slowly eroding away emotions and coherence.
We knew Robin's grandmother was forgetting family when we visited her home for the last time. She grabbed Robin's hands and would not let go.  Grandma’s hands showed the effects of decades of hard work, but her touch was warm and soft.  Her eyes were moist with emotion as he held the hands were once of a little girl, but now belonged to a 40-something woman.
She spoke her final words and said, "Robin, we will always be friends." Robin smiled and reminded her that she was her granddaughter. Her grandmother nodded her head and smiled.   Grandma lovingly whispered, "We will always be friends."  She kissed her granddaughter and never spoke again.  

Robin is her grandmother in so many ways. She shares her grandmother's love of family and friends. She puts the needs of others first.  Her grandma’s everlasting love can be found in my wife’s smile as she bakes.   A little girl once held her grandma’s hand and shared a cookie.   Like her grandma,  Robin bakes to share the love that she learned from her grandma with family and friends.   Alzheimer's disease may erode a life away, but it cannot steal love.   Love conquers all and is the conduit between heaven and earth.  

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